Ashok Chaturvedi
| Ashok Chaturvedi | |
|---|---|
| Born |
12 June 1947 Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Spouse(s) | Asha Chaturvedi |
Ashok Chaturvedi was the chief of India's external intelligence agency the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) from 1 February 2007 to 31 January 2009. Chaturvedi succeeded P.K.H. Tharakan, a 1968 batch officer of the IPS Kerala cadre who retired on 31 January 2007.
Chaturvedi was part of the Indian Police Service (IPS) as a 1970 batch officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre before joining R&AW's own service cadre the Research and Analysis Service (RAS). Chaturvedi, who was an analyst on Bangladesh and Nepal, had also served in the United Kingdom and Canada besides a stint in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Controversy and media speculation about his future has also continued to follow Chaturvedi's career with his failed attempts to ban the publication and sale of the book, India's External Intelligence: Secrets of Research and Analysis Wing R&AW, written by Major General V.K. Singh, formerly a colleague and Joint Secretary in R&AW. In the book, V.K. Singh made a number of claims about R&AW including petulant conduct from a senior officer within the organization who went on unauthorised leave for eight months after being overlooked for promotion and who was tagged with malfeasance and ineptitude. The book was published and distributed both in India and abroad in June 2007 and the matter had largely been forgotten.
However, Chaturvedi curiously resurrected the issue months later when V.K. Singh's home was raided on 21 September 2007 by officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). A case was registered against V.K. Singh under the Official Secrets Act of India (OSA). The following day the offices of the publishers of the book, Manas Publications, were also raided.
Addressing a media conference where former intelligence officials were present to support him, V.K. Singh spectacularly revealed that the R&AW officer who went on an eight-month leave of absence without permission was in fact Ashok Chaturvedi.
Singh said the R&AW chief's absence from work was "an act of gross indiscipline…can he (Chaturvedi) bring discipline to the organization if he does not attend office for eight months?"
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